J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti accuses China of interfering in Kashmir

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday accused China of interfering in Kashmir.

The statement, made by her while speaking to mediapersons after meeting Union home minister Rajnath Singh here, is being seen as a comment on

Beijing

’s close ties with

Islamabad

and its repeated blocking of India’s efforts at multilateral forums to get a global ban placed on Pakistan-based terrorists like Jaish e Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar.

According to sources, the issue relating to China’s alleged meddling in Kashmir affairs did not come up during her half-an-hour long discussion with the home minister. The meeting focused on reviewing the security situation in J&K in light of the July 20 attack on Amarnath pilgrims, apart from discussing the additional security measures being taken to keep the remaining part of the yatra incident-free.

“While the China interference issue did not figure at the Mehbooba-Rajnath meeting, she may have chosen to air here concerns outside about Beijing’s sustained support and involvement with Pakistan despite the latter’s role in sponsoring cross-border terrorism and creating unrest in Kashmir,” an officer of the Central security establishment told TOI.

“Foreign hands are involved and unfortunately now, China is also interfering,” Mehbooba said after emerging from her meeting with Rajnath Singh.

She said that the Amarnath pilgrims were targeted to instigate communal riots across the country.

During her conversation with Singh, the J&K chief minister is said to have thanked him for his ‘mature’ reaction hailing ‘Kashmiriyat’, stating that it had helped to soothe the frayed nerves after the Amarnath attack and prevented a communal backlash. She is also believed to have appreciated the condemnation of the incident by all shades of opinion in J&K.

Mehbooba informed Singh of the additional security measures put in place to secure the yatra, including more optimal utilisation of the nearly 20,400 Central para-military personnel deployed for the purpose.